Apple and AT&T announce the iPhone service plans

Apple and AT&T have announced the long awaited iPhone plans. The service plans will be available for both individuals and families and will require a two-year service agreement. Individual plans will be priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1350 minutes. They will all include Visual Voicemail, unlimited email and web, 200 SMS messages, roll over minutes and mobile to mobile minutes.

“We want to make choosing a service plan simple and easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to experience all of iPhone’s revolutionary features at affordable and competitive prices.”

Don’t forget to add another $36.00 to the cost of iPhone ownership because that will come in the form of a one-time activation fee. With the cost of the iPhone at either $499 for the 4GB model or $599 for the 8GB model I think the least they could do is wave the activation fee, especially since it will be a self-activation service via iTunes. Also the limit on SMS messages also seems a bit low to me — it could certainly be used quickly with today’s increasing popularity in texting. While these plans are far from bad, they are also nothing special.

Read [Apple.com]